I recently stopped off at Against the Grain smokehouse and brewery on the way home from a business trip to have lunch and drink their excellent beers. Naturally I always try to pickup some glassware wherever I go (as long as its a not a shaker pint), and that was the plan for my visit to AtG. I picked up a cool AtG logo'd German dimple glass, but on my way out I noticed a locked cabinet full of drool-inducing AtG etched snifters. After wiping up the drool I asked the bartender (good people there) what the deal with these awesome glasses was. Apparently these were exclusive drinking vessels for the original AtG investors. While I was sad I couldn't get one, I thought it was a pretty cool idea.
Turns out Alpine Brewing Company did something similar, giving etched stemware to their employees. And there's always the exclusives that kickstarter contributors have been known to get.
Overall I think giving exclusive glassware to people heavily invested in the company, whether its employees or actual investors, is a nice way to say "thank you".
Thoughts?